La Esquina - Museo del Juguete

I wanted to see the new La Esquina Mexican Toy Museum that opened last week.  It was advertised around town on the city buses.

 

The Museum, located in an beautiful old home in the center of town, contains a collection of over 1000 toys on display including hand made dolls,

  wooden and metal trucks,

 animals, (Sorry about the reflections but the were too sweet not to include.)

Definitely worth a visit.

The Old Cotton Factory

One of our favorite places to wander is the Fabrica La Aurora, a short walk from the center of town.   Here is how it looked when it really was a cotton factory in 1920.

 and here it is today, reincarnated into artisan's galleries.

  Some of the original machinery is still in place, like this bobbin winder,

and this impressive something.

The galleries are upscale and inviting

 and the interior courtyards and outbuildings are nicely preserved.

The galleries regularly host art walks and open houses.  My favorite is the wine and chocolate night, of course.

Viva Mexico - Day 2

Most of the next day was dedicated to recreation of the events of 200 years ago.  At the appointed time, Ignacio Allende (2nd from the left) came galloping into town with the other heroes of the independence movement, Father Miguel Hidalgo and the Aldama brothers.  The gallop was so spirited and the crowd so appreciative that they ended up making several circuits of the route.

 

Here is Allende with the banner of the Virgin of Guadelupe.  The original banner, which was recently returned from Spain, can be seen in Mexico City.

 

Following the riders were the insurgents from the countryside carrying torches, machetes and pitchforks.

 I loved this guy with the nasty pitchfork in the lower right of the picture.

 

 and this sweet little boy being carried in his father's arms.

There were more horses and more parades and lots of torch carrying runners between the major cities of the region..

 As the sun set, we wandered around trying to find a better vantage point than last night.

We got really lucky and found a rooftop bar with a clear view of the crowds below, the rebuilt castillo, the light show on the Paroquia and the fireworks overhead.  Viva Mexico!

Viva Mexico - Day 1

We arrived in town to Red Green and White everything; there were flags for sale on every corner.  Even our little casa got with the celebration.

The actual 200th anniversary of Independence took place on the night of Sept 15 and the day of the 16th.  Wednesday night the Jardin was packed, really packed, with everyone in a mood for celebration.

Here I am with a few close friends  The only one I really knew was Yoli, but a fun time was had. You can see Allende himself on the banner behind us.  He doesn't have a mustache so I admit I am a bit confused about the dress code.

At exactly 11pm we were able to see Mayor Lucy call out the famous Grito, or cry for Independence, from the balcony of Allende's home. 

Immediately afterward the castillo, or fireworks construction, was lit.  Here is what it looked like in the daytime.

And here is my view with three of the circles lit.

It was the biggest castillo I have ever seen and I admit I was unnerved when I saw that this one required a man to climb up and light the fireworks.

Next, the celebration of Mexican Independence in earnest.

Enroute to Mexico

We're trying the red-eye to Mexico City this time; it allows us to have a leisurely day remembering what we might have forgotten and then walking out the door at 8pm.  We were so relaxed about it that we actually left  early.

Arriving early at Portland airport is a treat as all the concessions are required to charge the same as they do in town.  First stop, a preflight drink at Rogue Ales Public House.

It is always nice to see a good friend, Powell's Books, if you want to spend some time browsing.

 Remember when you had to prop your computer on a trash can after finally locating the only outlet in the terminal?  Not at PDX; this comfortable bench has outlets all along and the opposite side has tables if you want to spread your stuff out.

The first leg of the flight itself was extremely uncomfortable thanks to the full plane and that Continental decided our seats didn't need to recline more than two inches.  This was supposed to be when we slept but it lived up to the red-eye bit.  We arrived in Houston and transferred to a tiny plane for the last leg to Mexico City airport.

The first class bus station is inside the airport and we had already purchased our tickets to ensure we got the senior citizen rate.  We climbed aboard but not until our bags were physically searched and each passenger had been videotaped.  They also enforced a strict carry-on rule so even my little shoulder bag rode below.  Thank goodness the movie was in English and they gave us sandwiches and a drink.

We arrived at our little casa to find it well cared for. After a good night's sleep we're ready:  bring on the Bicentennial celebration this week!

May 19-20, 1978 - Tahiti

Rented a car for two days to explore the island.  The weather completely cleared this morning to provide some spectacular views.  Met some people with a boat who had just sailed from New Zealand in 28 days.  We talked to them to find out how they did it.  There were just two of them, brother and sister.  In the evening we went to a dancing show at the Kai Ord Hotel.  It was people from a nearby village and not nearly as professional as we saw on Tahiti and, unfortunately, not as interesting.  In both cases the dancers took people from the audience and it is a terrible sight to see people trying to shake their hips and not making it.  The Tahitians do it so beautifully.

We drove to the Bali Hai Hotel and went out on their snorkel raft, the Liki Tiki.  Snorkeled for an hour and saw splendid coral.  Pretty fish, too, but the coral was the nicest I’ve seen.  Clams were florescent blue, purple and pink inside and buried in the coral.  When I swam by they would close up until only a strip of bright color showed.

Sat in the sun then showered, ate a whole pineapple and checked out of the hotel.  Drove back along some of the more scenic parts of the island to get a few more photos.

Note the flower in my hair; I went tropical.

Flew back to the Papiete airport to catch the Pan Am flight to LAX!

That's the end of this trip but just 6 months later we returned to Afghanistan and had more adventures.   If you have read this far I thank you for joining me as I told our story.


                                                                                                                                                               

May 18, 1978 - Tahiti

Up early to return the car, but first to check luggage at the airport while we visit the Island of Morea.   The car was $36 for 24 hours.  Caught the boat at 9:30 am for Morea, 10 miles and 1 hour away from Tahiti.  The sea was rough but all passengers survived.

Morea is spectacular and it cleared sufficiently that we had a good view of Cooks Bay as the boat pulled in.  We tried to locate a local-stay hotel but all were either closed or full so we settled for the Amio on the water in Cooks Bay.  Our room was $24/day with a big breakfast included.  We could even see a bit of bay though a crack between the other bungalows from our room.  A bay-front room was $80/night.  The hotel staff  were friendly and we enjoyed it.  They gave us bikes and we rode around a bit and watched the sunset at the Bali Hai Hotel sitting in a hammock.  

This is an ideal island.

May 17, 1978 (again) - Tahiti

Crossed the International Dateline so got to do Wednesday all over again.  Tahiti was rainy and overcast when we arrived at 6:30am.  We found a hotel and rented a car.  Everything is expensive.  Our hotel was the cheapest we could find - $12 – and it is a 10 minute walk to the water.  Rain cleared for a few minutes so we drove around the island.  It took all day, stopping to look at hotels.  The heavy rain didn’t make for good photography.  Rivers from the interior were overrunning their beds.  We saw a lovely sunset from the top of the Transcontinental Hotel.

In the evening we had an expensive pizza dinner.  No sign of Tahitian food; must be French food.  Afterwards we went to the Beachcomber Travel Lodge for a Tahitian dancing show. It was very professional and entertaining: grass skirts, flower head dresses and necklaces and two strategically placed shiny black coconut hulls.  Bryan observed that coconuts do come in different sizes.

May 1-17, 1978 - New Zealand

(My sister) Joyce and (her then husband) Peter, were waiting for us at the airport and took us to their sweet little home on a dairy farm.  We talked a lot, Joyce showed us her horse barn and Peter picked mushrooms for dinner.

Joyce is studying for her Master’s in Equine Reproduction in Christchurch.

That night we went to their weekly Canterbury film society film with them.

What a lovely 2 weeks.  Joyce is a warm hostess and excellent housekeeper – how much fun to watch my little sister keep her own home.  Bryan caught a cold and by the end of the 2nd week we had all caught it and recovered.  But that didn’t stop us from taking a 1-day drive to Akaron on the Banks Peninsula and a 4-day drive around the north and west of South island.  We had enormous amounts of rain but the tents didn’t leak too badly.

Got up early the last day to get to the airport at 6:45 which was a chore since we had taken Peter and Joyce out to say good bye. Our plane turned back twice off the runway because of a faulty navigational system.  (I guess everyone is being more careful since that Korean jet was shot at and landed in the USSR a few weeks ago.)  We didn’t get off to Aukland until about 10 but Joyce and Peter had gone back home so we just wandered about the airport.

Aukland is a big city but still retains some of its lovely old buildings.  In fact, even the McDonalds is in a renovated, elaborate old building downtown.  It is school holidays now and I’m sure it must be the prettiest and most popular McDonalds in the world.

We took a ferry to a town across the harbor and back and just strolled around all day – the weather cleared perfectly and it was even warm, a nice change after South Island.

Caught the 11pm flight to Tahiti – Air NZ again – a good flight but almost full so no room to stretch out on a DC10.

Apr. 25-30, 1978 - Australia

Slept on the plane – a Quantas 707 – arriving early to a rainy Sydney.  Airport formalities went smoothly and although it was 6am they could book us in a hotel and deliver us to the door.  We stayed in Kings Cross.  The hotel had a nice double bed so we checked in and slept for a few more hours, this time stretched out flat, rather than airplane sleeping position
Spent a pleasant week in Sydney – we liked it more each day.  Saw several movies – they have one theater with 7 cinemas!  We saw Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Annie Hall and Looking for Mr. Goodbar.  All were good in my opinion except the last.  Annie Hall was the best movie I had seen in ages, perhaps because I hadn’t seen one in at least 3 years.

We learned the bus system but enjoyed walking. One day we walked around the Sydney Opera House and the Botanic Gardens which made a pleasant day. 

Ate at McDonalds and bought glasses to replace my stolen pair.  (We were so desperate to see movies that I actually watched the first two without glasses until the pair I ordered came in.)

 We took a harbor tour and an all-day bus tour to see some sweet Koalas.

 

On May 1st we got up early and flew to Christchurch, NZ.

Apr. 24, 1978 - Indonesia

We don’t leave until tonight so we are just loafing around by the pool.  We had to check out of our room at 1 and don’t have anything else to do until dinner.

At five we took the hotel bus into town with the German couple and had dinner and then went to Denpasar for a temple festival.  There were many Balinese going in too, with their elaborate gifts of fruit in artistically made leaf baskets.  Someone on the bus removed my glasses from my purse so I only had sunglasses which made viewing of people in the dark temple difficult.  We sat around a bit watching the families with their kids in their best temple clothes.  Some of the younger children had western dress but the young people and teenagers and adults all had on sarongs.  The boys generally wear levis or slacks during the day but obviously for temple the dress is traditional.

 We caught a share taxi back to the hotel for our bags and then to the airport.

Apr. 23, 1978 - Indonesia

Spent a lazy day in the sun, reading and indulged in another coconut oil massage.  In the evening we went to a local fire dance ceremony.  It was like a Christmas play at a church – everyone got to participate and then put it on in front of family, friends and guests.  The guests (us) paid a small entry fee and got chairs but everyone else just stood behind to watch.  There was a good community – family feeling.  There was an improvised stage in a courtyard with painted backdrops and light was provided by two naked light bulbs swarming with insects.  To change the lighting someone just reached up through the insects and unscrewed the bulb.

First came a group of young boys – maybe eight to late teens who sat in the corner near us.  They were dressed in identical skirts and head wraps.  They sang a monkey song with great relish – all but one sang rapidly “chuck-a chuck-a chuck-a” and he sang the basic rhythm – a monotone two-beat moan.  There were certain subtleties that I probably missed but everyone enjoyed it, especially the boys.  Sometimes the tempo would get faster and they would practically fly off where they were sitting cross-legged in the dirt.

After that a similar group of unmarried girls came in and sat in a group separate from but near to the boys.  They sang alternate songs with the boys to accompany two elaborately dressed and coifed young girls as they danced in a seeming trance.  This went on for about 20 minutes with the little girls falling over a few times and being righted by their mothers.  Then the priest brought them out of the trance with holy water and incense.

The second part of the program was a fire dance.  About 5 older men participated in this.  A coconut husk bonfire was lit in the center and the lights unscrewed.  Then the men, already deep in a trance, rushed through the flames and scattered the embers with their feet.  It was quite impressive with sparks flying everywhere, including the laps of those in the front rows.  They shuffled around in the embers and associates kept sweeping the embers back up in a pile only to be scattered again.  The trances became deeper and deeper and it was hard to tell what was happening.  The men had to be held up and restrained by assistants and then the priest took them out of their trance by various actions and potions.  A few threw up and wretched and others shook and trembled – all this accompanied in the dark by a chuck-a chuck- chuck-a sound of 30 or so voices.  Weird, to say the least.  At one point they sacrificed a chick by wringing it’s neck and drank it’s blood straight from the neck.  We were sitting quite close so not many people could see what was going on.  I don’t remember exactly how it ended but people started leaving.  I take back the part about it being like a play at church.

Apr. 22, 1978 - Indonesia

Spent all day in the sun and napped in the air conditioned room in the afternoon.  Bargained again for a bathing suit and got it and a matching sarong for $4.25 from ladies on the beach who had their wares wrapped in cloth and carried on their heads.  They are astute business ladies.

Here I am modeling my new purchase.

 At 5 we went to Kuta to eat some seafood – avocado and shrimp and lobster with garlic.

Apr. 21, 1978 - Indonesia

Joined a tour to the volcano Mt. Batur and the town of Kintamani at 4,500 feet and a few other places, including an artisan town of Ubud.  The tour was a bust, though, because the other people on the tour encouraged the sales people who pestered us at every stop to buy souvenirs.  They bargained loudly and bought lots of junk and generally spoiled the peaceful surroundings.  Too bad.

We stopped for 1 hour to see another Baron dance.  The light was good and Bryan could take pictures.  Although it was for tourists, children from the town watched it.  These dances are very much a part of their life.

Apr. 20, 1978 - Indonesia

Woke up to find ourselves on a beautiful Balinese beach – it had been too dark to see much when we arrived last night.  After breakfast we went for a swim in the ocean.  There were big waves and lots of surfers but unfortunately also a mean rip tide.  Some friendly surfers saw our distress and gave us a lift back in on their surfboards.

After such a harrowing experience we treated ourselves to a coconut oil massage from two ladies on the grass in front of our hotel. They charged us $1.25 for just under ½ hour.  Next time I’m going for the hour.  Stress relief – they have such strong hands.

We took the shuttle bus to the town of Kuta and drank a pineapple drink – but not as nice as at Lake Toba.  I tried to bargain for a swimsuit on the beach but ended up not buying anything.  We met the German couple from our river trip at Taman Nagara, Malaysia, who had just arrived last night too.  Saw a Balinese traditional dance and went to sleep in paradise..

Apr. 18-19, 1978 - Indonesia

Jakarta is hot and DIRTY.  Fortunately the Australian Embassy will give us a visa in a day so we went to the Garuda office and booked the next flight out tomorrow.  It leaves at 7pm. 

We napped during the hottest part of the day – this is as hot as Bangkok but maybe that’s because big cities always seem hotter.  We’re right on the equator: sunrise 6am, sunset 6pm.  In the evening we went to find dinner at a restaurant recommended by by friends but it wasn’t open so we found our own, the Roda – worth going back to.  I had fried mee (Chinese noodles) and Bryan had chicken curry, hot and spicy.

We had only brought out a little bit of money because of the pickpocket stories we had heard.  The cokes were more expensive than we thought so we had to be careful about what we had for dinner.  Bryan’s chicken curry was 300 rps plus a bit extra for rice.  Bryan ate both pieces of chicken and was satisfied, except when the bill came it was for chicken curry – 600 rps.  “Oh yessir, one piece 300, 2 piece 600.”  Fortunately we had it with 55 rps to spare (12 cents).  Another case of paying for only what you eat – will we ever learn?

To kill time the next morning until it was time to pick up the visa at 2:00 we took a bus to fisherman’s wharf – we sweated unbelievable amounts and smelled the fish and looked at the tourist and marine supply stalls.  After taking more buses we ended at a shopping center and saw a fine selection of Indonesian products. – hand painted batik fabrics were selling at $100 a piece. however.  We fell in love with the ratan work.

At two exactly we picked up our visas for Australia and then went to our hotel for the bags and then by taxi to the airport.  We hoped to get stand-by for a 4:30 flight but that had been canceled so we are waiting for the 7:00 flight.  Good ol’Garuda.  We had been warned.

Garuda was late but we arrived in Bali to find a bus waiting for us.  We had reserved our room at the Legian Beach Hotel recommended by friends in Jakarta.  We got a big air conditioned room with a 4-poster double bed and ratan furniture for $18.  Heaven.

Apr. 16-17, 1978 - Indonesia

Happy birthday to my sister, Joyce.  Sunday is the mail boat’s day off and for a fee they take anyone who wants around the island on an all-day sail.  We paid our $1.75 and were treated to a full day’s tour in the sun.  We left around 10am and returned at 8, tired, sunburned and happy.  On board they cooked lunch and dinner was over a charcoal fire.  We stopped at an old Batak village and swam in a hot spring – well swam isn’t exactly the word – put our toes in is more correct.  Then we swam in the lake where the hot spring, now a warm spring, joined it.  Sunset was memorable and the rain waited until we were snug in our rooms after dinner.

The next day our friends Ira and Rifka decided to stay on at Lake Toba for a few more days but we left by the early ferry to Parapat and caught the 750 rup. bus for Medan.   This bus trip was more uncomfortable than the one coming up, if possible, due to cramming as many people as possible in any empty space.  The police actually caught and fined the conductor who was riding on the roof – served him right.  Bryan actually had someone sitting on his lap part of the time.  

In Medan we were let off in front of the Garuda airlines office and we booked the next flight to Jakarta leaving at 4:30pm.  No problem and we landed in Jakarta at dark.

Friends had given us the name of the Bethel Hotel across from the Bali International and since the taxi driver didn’t know the first he took us to the second.  After some searching we located it at the back of a church – a lovely clean guest house and they had a room with a fan for $12.  That’s cheap for Jakarta and includes breakfast and all the ice water you can drink.

Garuda had given us a box dinner of fried rice so we just sluiced and went to bed.

Apr. 15, 1978 - Indonesia

Up at sunrise for a wash in the lake.  We weren’t alone and it was quite a toothbrushing, lathering group.  Breakfast of a banana pancake and then a hike along the lake.  Many people were staying in traditional Batak houses consisting of a large room covered with a distinctive roof and standing on poles.

 

Lake Toba traditional houses

The front “triangle” is elaborately carved and painted in black, white and brown.  Those houses were nice but due to the small windows don’t have the view our room has.

In the afternoon we napped and read and drank pineapple coolers at the Carolina Hotel.   They have electricity and a blender, unlike our hotel, and for 30 cents will put a big hunk of pineapple in the blender and pulverize it into thick juice – mmmm. 

In the evening we went to a pig roast.  Some people who came on the bus with us bought a pig (we all chipped in) and then roasted it.  We stuffed ourselves – about 15 of us – and there was enough left over for the hotel owner’s family and friends.  The pig was stuffed with pineapples, bananas, potatoes and onions and roasted on a spit over a charcoal fire.

Apr. 14, 1978 - Indonesia

Took a 12:30 ferry to the island of Samosir in the middle of Lake Toba.  The island is 300 square miles in the center of a caldera.  The sides of the crater are sheer and the island is mountainous in the center – truly beautiful.  The closest village is Tuk Tuk and we found a small “losman” or pension.  For $1.25 we got a room with 2 beds, a desk and a beautiful view of the lake and the crater walls across it.  The shower and bath were the lake and the toilet was an outhouse – but it was idyllic.  What a great place!  Food was well made and cheap.  It was like camping and the Batak people are terribly friendly.  The woman who ran our guest house, Poppy, took an instant liking to Ira and his black beard and couldn’t keep her hands off him.  She was quite a character but in her own words, “all talk, no action.” 

Lake Toba with Ira and Rifka

That night we went to another cultural show at the Carolina Hotel.  More of same except with a talk explaining Batak traditions.  There was a blind mandolin player who gave quite a show – an old man who played solos holding his instrument behind his back to play it while grinning an enormous grin.